Tag Archive: Krautrock


TRIPPING WITH ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE

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November 19, 2012

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. live at Il Clandestino, Faenza, Italy – Sunday 18th November 2012

Last night, my bucket list was reduced by one as I finally got the chance to witness a show by the current incarnation of the cult Japanese ‘soul collective’ Acid Mothers Temple (AMT).

The announcement of this free show in a small club/bar in Faenza was only made through social network sites the night before. This five-piece version of the AMT extended family of inspired dysfunctionals appear to be putting together the Italian leg of their European tour on the fly with further dates added at the last minute in Milan and Rome.

On posters, web-links and T-shirts this is billed as the “Last Tour in UK & Europe 2012” which presumably (hopefully!) is meant to be read as the final set of gigs this year rather than their last ever shows.

As befitting a band whose name is a corruption of 70s Krautrockers Ash Ra Tempel, they treated us to a killer 90 minute set that alternated between ear-splitting space rock and improvised psychedelic ambience. Continue reading →

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BERLIN UNDERGROUND CAMERA

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October 21, 2012

If you think Krautrock is passé,  think again. I have just reviewed Radiate! – a fine debut album by a Berlin trio called Camera who have built a reputation for “guerilla gigs” in the city.

They are the kind of buskers that give humanity to the metropolis.

I love this video of them playing at an underground station – check out the funky dancing:

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FROST CHILLS RAVENNA FESTIVAL

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June 30, 2012

BEN FROST –  Live at Rocca Brancaleone, Ravenna 29th June 2012

I recently made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t go to another concert to see a solo laptop artist.

Past experience has taught me that, however visceral/atmospheric/distinctive the recorded music is, the experience of watching someone staring at , and tweaking with, his/her computer for an hour or more is a visual spectacle I can happily live without.

The announcement of this concert by Ben Frost as part of the Ravenna Festival therefore presented a dilemma.

I am a big admirer of Frost’s albums Theory Of Machines and By The Throat but didn’t want to be disillusioned by a lacklustre ‘live’ show.

I decided to risk it because the billing promised that Frost was being backed by Shahzad Ismaily on percussion and Borgar Magnason on double bass. When there are ‘real’ instruments alongside a MacBook the dynamic changes. There is the sense that there is something more spontaneous going on than a mere playback of something  prepared earlier.

The venue for the show was also a big selling point – outdoors in the remains of the city’s fortress (Rocca) was a cool place to be at the end of a sweltering day in which temperatures had soared above 30 degrees celcius.

The Frost trio played for a little over an hour creating an intense uninterrupted piece that shifted between pure noise and glitchy electronics with hints of piano melodies to soften the mood. The occasional bursts of dry ice combined with the muted lighting to give a vaguely satanic aspect to proceedings.

It was all a bit much for the numerous well-heeled festival goers who made an early exit. They were presumably expecting restful ambient textures instead of the heavier sounds inspired by  industrial punk and Krautrock.

Frost specialises in creating some fairly creepy soundscapes so the growls and howls Magnason elicited from his double bass and the heavy bumps in the night from Ismaily’s synthesised drum kit helped create  the kind of music that would fit well with nightmarish images from sci-fi or horror movies.

All in all, good enough to restore my faith in live electronica.

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INTERVIEW WITH DONATO EPIRO

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June 22, 2010

The music of Italy’s Donato Epiro has an ambient glow that lies someway between the precision of  electronica and the more spaced out trippiness of experimental Kosmische rock.

At the same time there is an unmistakable influence of traditional acoustic folk which gives his  work a beautifully organic texture. There is a warm complexity in the way layers of  intricate instrumentation blend with more primitive rhythms.

The first album I heard of his – Sounding The Sun (Stunned Records) – remains my personal favourite. This can be downloaded from the ever indispensable Microphones in the Trees blogspot. You can also sample Donato’s work on Soundcloud.

Donato runs the label Sturmundrugs Records although his releases appear on an often bewildering range of small presses,  either  on cassette or as limited edition cdrs.

I wanted to find out a little about the man behind this music and Donato kindly agreed to answer a few questions.  (I have translated his replies from Italian). Continue reading →

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ITALY’S NEW WEIRD TARANTELLA

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October 30, 2008

I wish I could say that living in Italy gives me a unique insight into aspects of the country’s underground music scene. Unfortunately, I do not move in such privileged circles so a lot of the time I, like anyone else, make discoveries by chance, more often than not in cyberspace. Continue reading →

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